OCC basketball coaches cap successful seasons

By Jason Gabak

Editor

When The Onondaga Community College Women’s Basketball team defeated Jefferson Community College this was not just another win for the Lazers.

This marked the 400th career win for Coach Mike Wheeler.

Wheeler has led the team for 16 seasons, during that time he has amassed a record of 400-105, leading the team to eight straight Mid-State Athletic Conference Tournament titles, four NJCAA Regional Championships, three NJCAA National Semi-final appearances, and was the National Championship Runner-up in 2010.

Looking back on the success the team has had and this important milestone in his career, Wheeler was quick to joke that 400 wins made him feel old.

“When you start hitting those kinds of milestones you know you are getting older,” Wheeler said. “But seriously it was great. For 16 years I have worked with 16 teams and this is really all about all of them and the program we have put together.”

Beginning his coaching career at CBA, Wheeler was able to build a successful program.

When he was contacted about taking over as head coach for the OCC team, Wheeler admit she had some initial reservations.

“I was coach at CBA for five years,” Wheeler said. “We had a good program. When I was offered the job at OCC they had just gone 0-28.”

Wheeler said his aunt, who had also coached at CBA, encouraged him to consider the opportunity.

“She told me if we went 1-27 we were already successful. “Wheeler said. “I decided I would take the job and I would give myself three years and now I have been here 16 years.”

In his first season, Wheeler said the Lazers went 16-12 and earned a spot at the NJCAA quarter finals and the team has made an appearance every year since.

According to Wheeler this success if the product of creating a sense of unity among the players and the coaching staff.

This begins with Wheeler’s stance on student athletics.

“They are there to go to school first,” Wheeler said. “Less than one percent of players will ever get a chance to play in the WNBA and they are there to get an education and a degree so they can take care of themselves in their lives.”

Wheeler and his staff working to create a system that players believe in and given the team’s success, Wheeler said he believes this is happening.

With this season behind them, Wheeler is already working on recruiting and preparing for next year.

“We are excited about the future,” Wheeler said. “We have some great players coming back and some new players and we are all excited for what next season will bring.”

On the men’s side, the Lazers have also found success this season under the leadership of new coach Erik Saroney.

After spending 14 years as head coach of the boys’ varsity basketball program at Henninger High School, Saroney was named OCC head men’s basketball coach in April 2016.

The Lazers went 27-4 for the year.

While at Henninger, Saroney accumulated a record of, 238-72, five Section III AA Championships, and seven league titles.

Saroney was recently announced as the NJCAA Region III Coach of the Year.

“It is pretty cool,” Saroney said. “It is a real honor.”

Saroney said he began coaching in his mid 20s and after 14 seasons at Henninger, he was curious to pursue the opportunity to coach at OCC.

“When I heard about the position at OCC I decided to see how things worked at a different level,” Saroney said. “It has been a really good experience my first year.”

Saroney said there are some differences between high school and collegiate ball, mostly little things like longer games, things which require adjustments more on the player side than the coaching side.

“There are some adjustments,” Saroney said. “There always are some adjustments. There are always differences in the way the games are officiated, there are differences in every league, but really basketball is basketball. You adjust and play the game.”

While Saroney was honored to receive the award, he attributes the success to the team as a whole.

“We had a great group of guys,” Saroney said. “I coached some of them in high school so they already knew me and I knew them, so that helped us. A lot of the guys knew what to expect from me.”

From Saroney’s perspective there are a lot of elements that have to come together to make a successful team.

But perhaps most important is chemistry.

Saroney said basketball, like other sports, is a team sport, but it is also comprised of individuals and the strengths of those individuals has to be understood in the context of the larger team unit.

“Everybody is different,” Saroney said. “It is about how they all fit together.”

This season the Lazers found their own rhythm and Saroney is looking forward to building on that success in the years to come.

“Everyone has worked so well together,” Saroney said. “They staff has worked well together and the guys have all been great together and we’re looking forward to next year.”